Tamil compositions took centre stage at Sriranjani’s New Year concert

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, Vocal with R.K. Shriram Kumar on the violin, Sumesh Narayanan on the mridangam, and S. Karthick on the ghatam at Hamsadhwani, Youth Hostel, Adyar.
| Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan’s vocal concert, as part of Hamsadhwani founder R. Ramachandran’s birth centenary celebrations, brimmed with energy. Held on Tamil New Year’s day, the performance included a variety of Tamil works — from Avvaiyar’s ‘Vakkundam’ in Ritigowla as a prelude to ‘Tatvamariaya tarama’ by Papanasam Sivan to the concluding Thiruppugazh.

The swara suite at ‘Mathi sekaran magane’ was, indeed, a tad protracted. A bit of respite came with ‘Ramanukku mannan mudi’ by Arunachalakavi in raga Hindolam. Sriranjani took up the rare raga Jyothiswaroopini for detailing and her choice of kriti was Koteeswarar Iyer’s ‘Ganamuda paanam’. Sriranjani exhibited her vocal prowess in the raga essay and at the niraval ‘Kavi kunjara dasan thuthi seithidum’. Her high-pitched singing bordered on loudness at some junctures but drew applause from the audience.

Gopalakrishna Bharati’s composition ‘Nadanamadinar’ in raga Vasantha came as a breather before the detailed Mohanam treatise. The raga progressed with delectable phrases and pauses and touched the tara sthayi again. However, her well-controlled voice helped her stay the course.

Bhakti-laden rendition

Kulasekara Azhwar’s ‘Kulam tarum selvam’ as virutham as presented by the inimitable M.S. Subbulakshmi was followed by Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Narayana divya namam’. The charanam line ‘Maara janakan karunalayan’ was chosen for a detailed exposition. Sriranjani infused enough emotion into her niraval before launching into the swaraprastaras. Here, she slowly started with the kizh kala swaras and moved on to the more expressive and expansive mel kala swaras. The entire package was replete with bhakti and bhava but overplayed. ,

Senior violinist R.K. Shriram Kumar’s shows his expertise both when accompanying veterans and young musicians. His understanding and responses proved his maturity and adaptability. His essays of Jyothiswaroopini and Mohanam needs special mention.

Sumesh Narayanan on the mridangam and S. Kathick on the ghatam seemed to have a field day. Sriranjani’s renditions were bolstered by both. Their tani avartanam was strident, and their remarkable rhythmic patterns were well-received.

Sriranjani concluded her concert with Bharatiyar’s ‘Chinnanjiru kiliye’ (ragamalika), a Lalgudi Jayaraman thillana in Desh, preluded with a verse from Kandar Anubhoothi and a Thiruppugazh.